Meandering

I’m always humbled when I think about the tremendous trust students show in enrolling in our adult education programs.  They place way more confidence in me than I have in my ability to fulfill that trust.

When Dave Cormier asks, “How do we design our own or others learning when we don’t know where we are going?” it feels a lot like an itch I need to scratch.

Then he asks whether “learning subjectives” can help us with this question. I’ve had a broad-spectrum treatment of learning objectives.  What in Bloom’s name might “learning subjectives” look like, and how could they possibly be helpful? That sent me down this path in a quest for meaning (originally dictated as notes on my iPhone while taking a break from reading James S.A. Corey’s space opera.)

Learning objectives: intended learning outcomes
intended by whom?
the course, the curriculum, the instructor, the certification body,
Me?
Learning subjectives: could that be the unanticipated consequences of un-learning ?
where “un-learning” equals questioning what I thought I knew

Hmmm,  maybe,

How about some
word association…
(Pssst – graphic on the left)

Ahh – not really.
Back up and try again.

Objective: the object which is in view, the purpose
Object: the person or thing acted upon, the receiver of the action
Learning objectives: what someone else wants to teach me

Subjective: of, or having to do with, the subject
Subject: the person or thing performing the action, the actor
Learning subjectives: what I actually learn, perhaps by determining to do so, perhaps incidentally or accidentally

Can Grammar help us find our way? (Or maybe Gramper?)

Objective case pronouns: me you him her it us them
Teach him, instruct her, drill them, punish me
Subjective case pronouns: I you he she it we they
He perceives, she practices, they explore, I want

Definitely some hints there, but there must be more to it

Objectives for Rhizo 15:
Write frequent, insightful, lucid, profound blog posts exploring connected facets of rhizomatic learning. Set up TweetDeck to follow as many conversation streams as will fit on my screen. Post frequently in Facebook, G+ and Twitter. Comment on and link to other people’s blog posts and take part in being a generally polite and contributing citizen of this learning community.

Subjectives for Rhizo 15:
Read what I have time to read.
Read what interests me.
Ignore some platforms completely.
Reply or comment when I just can’t resist the urge – and delete it.
Or just spout off if I find a humorous twist.
Occasionally spend an inordinate amount of my leisure time in a tortured attempt to voice something that struck me as profound, and then leave it unpublished.
Dash off a tongue-in-cheek blogpost because whimsy is where I am most comfortable when I am outclassed.

OK, that’s getting closer to home, but part of me cringes at the self-indulgent tone, even though I am the subject.

I suspect my “learning subjectives” will be revealed when I realize my practice and my ways of being have changed (improved he hopes) because of Rhizo15.  Not entirely possible to anticipate just where it will poke up a shoot.